The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule has returned a little bit of tradition while also trying something new.

As expected, the 2015 schedule includes a return to Darlington Raceway for the Labor Day weekend race. The Southern 500, scheduled for Sept. 6, finally returns to what many believe is its rightful place on the schedule after 12 years of Labor Day races at Auto Club (Calif.) Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Atlanta’s race moves from Labor Day to the second race of the season, which is then followed by a three-race West Coast swing. Previously, the teams did two races out west and then returned for Bristol before going back out for the California event.

Darlington, which had Labor Day as its Southern 500 weekend for more than 50 years, was the benefit of a trade of sorts. When NASCAR decided to stay on the East Coast for the second week of the year, it was looking at going to Darlington. But then Speedway Motorsports Inc., which has Darlington and Bristol among its tracks, asked NASCAR if it could give up Labor Day at Atlanta so Bristol could get Darlington's mid-April date. Darlington is owned by the France-family controlled International Speedway Corp.

"Bristol was certainly looking to be later in the spring from a weather standpoint," NASCAR Executive Vice President Steve O'Donnell said. "Bringing the two groups together and talking about what are the best opportunities … through those conversations, it worked out to where we were able to benefit all parties."

The July race at Daytona won't be on Saturday, July 4. Instead, it will be Sunday night, July 5, so it won't be on a night when many families go out and watch fireworks. It will be the first race on NBC, which gets NASCAR races back for the first time since 2006 as it replaces ESPN and TNT as broadcast partners.

"Sunday made the most sense for us," O'Donnell said. "It's the launch of the new parternship with NBC. What better way to do it prime time Sunday night in Daytona. We just thought that was a great opportunity for the sport."

The Daytona summer race in 2016 will return to the traditional Saturday night date, according to the race track.

There will be 10 races on Fox, six races on Fox Sports 1, seven races on NBC and 13 races on NBC Sports Network. The breakdown already had been decided as part of contract negotiations, but Fox added one additional race to its network commitment. The 17 races on network television is one more than this year.